About CHS

CHS is a global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, agronomy, grains and foods, we’re committed to creating connections to empower agriculture, helping our owners and customers grow their businesses.

Our businesses

CHS offers a breadth of products and services to support our owners and customers every step of the way. Our practical solutions, local expertise and global connections give our farmer-owners and local cooperatives competitive advantages to reach their goals.

AGRONOMY

ENERGY

GRAIN

Stewardship

CHS is committed to making a meaningful impact in agriculture and rural America. Through our stewardship initiatives, we invest in programs that develop new generations of ag leaders, promote ag safety and strengthen hometown communities.

Cooperative value

Cooperatives are owned and governed by members who use its products, supplies, or services and operate in many sectors of the economy. In a cooperative system, people come together to scale buying power, gain access to goods and services and create economic opportunity.

Careers

At CHS, our teams work together to provide the products, services and expertise farmers and cooperatives need to feed a growing population. As a CHS employee, you help empower agriculture by creating connections that bring shared success.

Propane industry faces record demand

Propane is used by farmers across America to dry their corn during harvest.

Nov 11, 2019

This fall, propane is needed for crop drying in unprecedented quantities by farmers across the Midwest, causing a supply challenge for propane suppliers.

As of Nov. 5, 2019, 52 percent of corn harvest was complete, according to a USDA report. That progress was 23 percent behind the five-year average. Harvest is proceeding at a slow, but constant, pace, providing consistent demand for propane used in crop drying.

“The propane industry is in the middle of three key issues,” says Adam DeLawyer, vice president, CHS Propane. “A wet spring delayed harvest, causing a demand for dryer gas across a large geography where normally there is a more gradual harvest from south to north. Add to that a wet crop that needs more propane to dry. And a much colder-than-normal fall means our owners and customers need home heat for homes and livestock facilities earlier than usual.”

The high demand for propane is being felt by Midwest farmers, whose propane is primarily sourced from Kansas, Texas and western Canada and transported by pipeline, rail or truck. The issue is not a propane shortage, according to the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA). Instead, the challenge is getting propane to the right place at the right time. NPGA says the supply issues are caused by limits on the safe transportation of propane from supply points, as well as limits on pipeline capacity.

The NPGA says the propane industry is tracking rail and pipeline distribution to help move propane during peak demand periods.

“CHS Propane has been planning throughout the past year for a number of scenarios, strategically placing propane product and working closely with propane marketers,” says Dennis St. Aubin, director of marketing for CHS Propane West Region Sales and Energy Equipment. “Our planning was intended to exceed our customer needs, but demand has greatly exceeded anyone’s expectations.”

To help meet demand, the CHS Propane supply team is working closely with our suppliers and pipeline and rail terminal partners to flex our infrastructure to get propane gallons where they are needed the most. CHS Propane is also partnering with CHS Transportation to help serve customer needs. The efforts resulted in record volumes being moved to customers and owners by CHS Propane in late October and early November. “Our number-one priority is safely working to meet our owners’ and customers’ needs,” says Patrick Hessini, vice president of CHS Transportation.

In addition to regular communication with your propane supplier, DeLawyer says preventing future issues will require a closer look at propane storage. “Continued expansion of retailer storage and on-farm storage will be critical to meet the farmer’s ability to harvest crops at today’s increased yields and rates,” he says.